How to listen to music together online

To listen to music together online, everyone needs to hear the same track at the same moment and have a way to react. There are four common ways to do that. The best one depends on whether you want to talk, how good the sound needs to be, and how many people join.

1. Play music over a video or voice call

One person plays music and shares their audio in the call. It needs nothing new, but call apps compress sound for speech, so music sounds flat, and the music competes with everyone talking. Fine for two friends, not for a premiere.

2. Press play at the same time

Everyone opens the same track and counts down. It keeps full sound quality, but nobody stays in sync after a pause or a buffering hiccup, and there is nowhere to react together.

3. A group session in a streaming app

Some streaming apps let a small group share one queue. That works well for friends on the same service, but everyone needs that app, and the music is the big catalogue rather than something new from an artist you know.

4. A synced listening session

A listening session is a room built for this: one host controls playback, every listener hears the same moment in the track, and there is a chat next to it. On SODAMNTUFF the host can also talk to the room over a live mic, or mix their voice over the music, radio-style. It is the option to choose when an artist presents new music, or when you want to react together instead of just hearing the same thing.

How to start a listening session on SODAMNTUFF

1. Create a free account. Listening requires an account; there is no subscription.
2. Open Sessions, start a new session and give it a title.
3. Add tracks to the queue. Everyone who joins can add tracks too.
4. Share the join code with your friends. Sessions are invite-only, so only people with the code get in.
5. Press play. Pick music only, mic only, or a mix of both.

Which option should you pick?

• Catching up with one friend: a call is enough.
• A group of friends on the same streaming app: that app's group session.
• An artist premiering a track, or a room that wants to react together: a synced listening session.

Looking for something to put in the queue? Browse the artists or pick a sound on the genre pages.